The internet. It’s a useful tool. It is used by millions of people every day. And this looks set to increase. Analysts at Statista predict that its number of monthly users will rise to 56.7 million by 2021. Statistica has also revealed that Brits mostly use the internet for sending and receiving emails. This is a particularly common practice within big companies.
How many of us know about phishing scams, though? They can cause huge damage – especially for businesses.
Let’s explore this risk and how to avoid it.
What Exactly is A Phishing Attack?
A phishing attack can affect anyone with an email, social media account, or even a mobile phone.
Scammers scour people’s data to extract their money or personal information. They usually steal the latter to commit identity or financial fraud.
Insufficient security processes can make a person – or organisation – vulnerable to attack. Within the past few years, hackers have begun to focus more on businesses.
This is mainly because directors often possess financial and legal details about their entire organisation.
And so, protection is essential.
How Can I Identify A Scam?
It’s easy to identify a scam. You just need to know how.
If held within an email, it will likely have been sent by a public address, like ‘gmail.com’. A creditable source, of course, would use a verifiable company or organisation address.
Likewise, look out for emails that contain unusual attachments. They could release malware designed to harm your PC and allow access to company data.
Any message that conveys a sense of urgency can be malicious, too. A lot of the time, a hacker will pretend to be someone that you know.
In the case of a company, they may claim to be a representative from your bank. They’ll then state that there’s been “suspicious activity”, before asking you to pay a fee up front. This will ostensibly rectify the issue.
Heed all of these signs to pinpoint a phishing scam. You may protect your enterprise from serious damage.
Key Strategies for Businesses
Phishing attacks can be dangerous. Your company likely holds a huge amount of data on staff and clients.
You’ll no doubt want to prevent it from getting into criminal hands. Prepare properly, and you can achieve this.
You don’t have to do this alone, though. A specialist team will be able to support you. Its members can share the most effective preventative measures.
Even better, they’ll help your enterprise to install them. RSM are experts in safeguarding companies from phishing scams, for example.
Work with IT innovators, and you can secure your firm’s data at all times.
Phishing is illegal. Unfortunately, it’s also common. But your company needn’t fall foul to scams. Once you know how, you can eliminate this threat completely. What’s to stop you from doing this?
